Overview

This 13-day, fly-in itinerary takes you through Tanzania’s top three wildlife destinations – Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti – for a diverse big game safari, before whisking you to Mahé Island, a tropical paradise in the Seychelles archipelago.

Your safari starts on the shore of Lake Manyara, home to flamingos and famous tree-climbing lions. Next, you explore the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater, a Natural Wonder and one of the few places in Africa where it is possible to see all of the Big 5 in a single day.

Move on to the Serengeti where you will witness the Wildebeest Migration in season (approximately November to July). This grand finale of your safari adventure features dramatic interaction between mega herds of wildebeest and Africa’s apex predator, lions.

After nine days of big game thrills, you arrive on Mahé Island in the Seychelles ready to relax and unwind. The atmosphere is idyllic and there is plenty to do when the mood strikes you.

Throughout this tour, your accommodation is comfortable and elegant, from the safari lodges to the Serengeti’s authentic tented camp to Banyan Tree Resort on Mahé. It is a once-in-a-lifetime itinerary, perfect for honeymooners or first-time travellers to Africa. The combination of safari and beach destinations ensures that you’ll experience an ideal balance between action and relaxation.

Itinerary Highlights

• Tanzania’s Top 3 safari destinations
• Excellent year-round big game viewing
• Witness the Wildebeest Migration in season
• Tropical island resort set in a private bay
• Sea views & private plunge pools
• Secluded open-air forest spa treatments
• Delicious dining, from sushi to Thai

Day to day itinerary

Days 1-2

Coffee break in Arusha

You will be met on arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport and driven to Arusha Coffee Lodge. This charming lodge is set on a lush coffee plantation with stunning views of Mount Meru.

Settle into your cottage before taking a stroll around the grounds to acclimatise to Africa. Walk through the plantations, visit the markets of nearby Arusha, or simply relax in the poolside gardens with a chilled drink. On cool winter evenings, get cosy next to a fireplace and sip one of the freshest coffees you will ever taste.

Days 2-4

Fly to Lake Manyara

Depart after breakfast for your light aircraft flight to Lake Manyara, where a guide waits to meet you. He will drive you to Lake Manyara National Park and the grove of mahogany trees that shelters Lake Manyara Tree Lodge. This is the only lodge in the park, which makes for an exclusive and intimate atmosphere.

Ten thatched, treehouse suites radiate from the central lounge, bar and dining area, each offering beautiful views. You will spend two nights here, enjoying morning and afternoon game drives, and exciting night drives. Expect a rich variety of natural habitats set around the lake, which is a sanctuary for flamingos and other waterbirds.

The woodlands and open savannah plains support a large elephant population along with giraffe, buffalo and a multitude of graceful antelope. Lake Manyara’s lions are the primary predators here and famous for their unusual habit of climbing trees.

Days 4-6

The Big 5 in Ngorongoro Crater

After an early breakfast, you depart on a 4×4 vehicle transfer to the Ngorongoro Crater. This long-extinct volcano and Natural Wonder is considered one of the most spectacular wildlife destinations on Earth. Ngorongoro is home to a thriving population of big game species, including elephant, rhino and rare black-maned lion.

Your home for two nights is the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, set on the rim of the crater. Although sometimes shrouded in a fine veil of mist, the lodge’s lavish suites look out over one of Africa’s most spectacular views from private balconies.

Ngorongoro is one of the few places in Africa where it is possible to see the Big 5 in a single day, along with gazelle, wildebeest and zebra, small predators like caracal and serval cats, apex predators like lions and their greatest rivals, spotted hyena. We recommend you spend a full day game viewing, stopping for a delicious picnic lunch on the crater plains before returning to the lodge’s comforts for fireside cocktails and a sumptuous dinner.

Days 6-9

The Serengeti Migration

Another short flight carries you from Ngorongoro to the Serengeti, giving you an eagle’s eye view of this legendary reserve along the way. Your safari coincides with the Wildebeest Migration, a natural event that sees over a million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle follow the summer rains in a vast circular migration.

The mega herds must endure crossings rivers with strong currents and lurking crocodiles and keep their young safe from the magnificent lion prides of the open plains. Your home for three nights is Serengeti Under Canvas, an authentic tented camp that moves location with the Migration.

As comfortable as a permanent lodge but always offering a prime location to witness the best of the Migration, this camp offers morning and afternoon game drives led by specialist plus thrilling night drives, guided nature walks and optional hot-air ballooning to make the most of the largest terrestrial movement of animals in the world.

Days 9-13

Bliss in the Seychelles

Banyan Tree Seychelles is set above the white sands of a private bay on the island of Mahé.

Your suite for four nights is a luxurious, private villa with its own swimming pools and private outdoor Jacuzzi, sheltered by palm trees and lush vegetation. Banyan Tree offers a wide range of activities including mountain biking, snorkelling, diving, walking through its tropical gardens and cruising the warm Indian Ocean on a 47-foot twin-hull catamaran.

If you prefer to soak up the sun in a more social setting, you will love the resort’s private pool overlooking the ocean and the beach itself beyond that. Mahé is the international gateway to the Seychelles archipelago and a delightful introduction to the local Creole culture.

The island’s interior is mountainous with densely forested slopes and there are plenty of optional attractions to its beaches, including Morne Seychellois National Park (for great hiking trails) and the quaint capital city, Victoria. After five blissed-filled days, you begin your journey home from Mahé’s international airport.